Free Printable Decluttering Checklist

Updated on

Do you feel like you are drowning in stuff and don’t have enough time to purge and declutter your home? This free decluttering checklist will help you eliminate 101 things in one day! Download our free list and declutter five rooms in one day!

Getting rid of certain things is hard; I get it. We always seem to find a justification for holding onto stuff. But I carefully selected 101 items you most likely have in your home, which are very easy to get rid of without any guilt. Just print our free PDF checklist and declutter your house!

Why Is It Important to Declutter?

If you like to stay organized, you may wonder why you need to use a list to declutter your house. It’s a good question! Even if your spaces look clean and tidy and most things are in their place, you may still have what’s called ‘organized clutter.’ This means you’re keeping things you don’t need, which may take up valuable space in your drawers, closets, and cupboards.

declutter checklist

Decluttering and organizing are two different things. This list will help you declutter various areas of your home, allowing you to clear out space and organize your belongings more effectively. Better yet, there is no need to organize anything at all.

Minimalism expert Joshua Becker says it better: don’t just declutter, de-own.

How to Use Our Decluttering Checklist

To help you declutter your home, we have a free decluttering checklist available in PDF format. Simply fill out the form below to download it. Once you have the checklist, print it out and start decluttering immediately. While decluttering 101 things may seem overwhelming, it’s achievable in a day. Breaking it down into five rooms makes it much more manageable. We’ve even categorized the 101 items so you know exactly what things to get rid of in each room.

You will find a decluttering checklist for each of the following rooms:

  1. Home Office or Craft Room
  2. Kitchen
  3. Closet
  4. Bathroom
  5. Playroom or children’s room

Home Office or Craft Room Decluttering List

It’s not uncommon for home offices and craft rooms to become cluttered with unnecessary items. For instance, you might wonder why you need to hold onto a thousand paper clips. Other items, such as sticky notes, pens, magazines, and catalogs, can also contribute to the buildup of office clutter.

house declutter list - home office

Here is a list of 20 things you can declutter from your home office today without regret.

  • Random sticky notes
  • Wrinkled tissue paper, wrinkled gift bags
  • Ribbon pieces that have no spool
  • Dried out glue/glue sticks
  • Bent/excess paper clips
  • Broken staples strips
  • Duplicated desk supplies
  • Miniature erasers
  • Reward cards
  • Business cards
  • Fabric or yarn scraps
  • Owner’s manuals
  • Magazines
  • Old planners
  • Broken crayons
  • Dried paint
  • Merchandise catalogs
  • Old cell phones
  • Duplicated USB cables, chargers, etc.
  • Outdated software/CDs

If you need extra motivation for this decluttering task, check out my tips for paper organization.

Kitchen Decluttering List

The kitchen is often a place in our homes cluttered with various cooking gadgets, containers, new food items, and decorations for the fridge. If we don’t sort and purge these items regularly, they can quickly become clutter.

kitchen cabinet organization

Here is a list of 20 things you can declutter from your kitchen.

  • Chipped plates, bowls, and mugs
  • Expired food
  • Cardboard boxes
  • Plastic bags from the food store
  • Stained plastic food containers
  • Containers without a lid
  • Bent and burnt cookie sheets or muffin tins
  • Pots/pans with loose handles or burnt bottoms.
  • Dull knives
  • Food no one likes or eats
  • Freezer burnt food
  • Leftover food older than three days
  • Broken gadgets
  • Old or rarely used herbs and spices
  • Stained/frayed placemats and/or tablecloths
  • Excess/duplicated utensils and containers
  • Condiments packets from fast food chains
  • Disposable chopsticks and wrapped disposable utensils
  • Takeout menus
  • Paper clutter on the fridge door

If you feel motivated to declutter the kitchen even further than what’s on the list, check out how to declutter and organize small kitchen appliances.

Closet Decluttering List

Decluttering the closet can be daunting. We often accumulate clothes we never wear and other items we don’t need, but we keep them for sentimental reasons or because we think we might need something one day. For example, spare buttons included with new clothes are rarely used and take up space. Another example is the wire hangers from the dry cleaners, which we tend to keep simply because they are free.

things to get rid of

Here is a list of 20 things you can declutter from your closet.

  • Spare buttons
  • Holey or stained t-shirts
  • Wire hangers/broken plastic hangers
  • Socks with holes or missing their pair
  • Clothes that have not been worn in a year
  • Shoes that don’t fit well
  • Shoe boxes
  • Spare shoelaces
  • Old hats and caps
  • Unflattering clothes
  • Old pajamas
  • Boutique or department store boxes/paper bags
  • Unused belts
  • Unused purses/wallets
  • Tarnished fashion jewelry
  • Earrings with no pair
  • Stained or damaged clothes beyond repair
  • Stretched-out swimwear/underwear
  • Extra pairs of flip-flops/slippers
  • Clothes two sizes too big/too small

If you want to declutter your closet beyond this list, the ‘40 hanger closet‘ is a fantastic approach!

Bathroom Decluttering List

We often overlook the bathroom, yet it is one of our homes’ most frequently used spaces. We tend to fill the cabinets and closets with beauty products and makeup samples that we hardly ever use, leading to a cluttered and disorganized space that becomes difficult to maintain. It is important to declutter and organize the bathroom regularly to create a relaxing and serene atmosphere.

under bathroom sink storage

Here is a list of 20 things you can declutter from your bathroom.

  • Old makeup
  • Broken hair ties or clips
  • Excess bobby pins
  • Hair products that didn’t work
  • Unused hair styling tools
  • Beauty products past their best
  • Expired medicine
  • Expired sunscreen
  • Old hair brushes/makeup brushes
  • Gloppy nail polish
  • Broken or dull nail files
  • Dull scissors and/or razor blades
  • Old loofahs
  • Handheld mirrors
  • Empty perfume bottles
  • Perfume samples
  • Hotel samples
  • Frayed or stained towels and washcloths
  • Old bath mats
  • Bathrobes

When you finish decluttering your bathroom, check out these bathroom closet organization ideas.

Playroom or Children’s Room Decluttering List

The playroom is a tough spot to declutter, just like the closet. Your children adore their toys, and you cherish their artwork and crafts. Nevertheless, it is crucial to set boundaries. There is no need to keep every piece of paper with a scribble, and your kids don’t require three or four identical items. Trust me, I know what it’s like to be a parent of a child who had the world’s largest collection of wooden trains and train tracks.

Here is a list of 21 things you can declutter from the playroom or your children’s room.

  • Excess stuffed animals
  • Unloved dolls
  • Unloved cars and trains
  • Cheap toys received in party favor bags/happy meals
  • Deflated balls, bouncy balls
  • Cars missing wheels or parts
  • Puzzles missing pieces
  • Anything that is not age-appropriate
  • Cheap souvenirs
  • Artwork (snap a picture if it has sentimental value)
  • Paper crafts like hats, puppets, etc.
  • Stickers
  • Books never read (donate to your school)
  • Board games never played/missing pieces
  • Broken outdoor toys
  • Unused sports equipment
  • Outgrown dress-up clothes
  • Unwanted DVD’s
  • Old coloring books
  • Outgrown clothes
  • Outgrown shoes

If your children have a large collection of anything, I suggest you check out our toy sorting system using the Ikea Trofast.

Declutter Checklist

Frequently Asked Questions

Remember to pace yourself when decluttering your home. Although this checklist can be completed in a day, it’s not necessary to complete everything at once. You can leave some tasks unchecked and come back to them at a different time or season in your life.

It is common for people to hold onto things they don’t really need, which can clutter their homes and lives. To avoid this, try using the 90-day rule: if you haven’t used an item in the last 90 days and don’t anticipate needing it in the next 90 days, it’s probably time to let it go. If you find that you need it again in the future, and it’s not a big expense, you can always give yourself permission to buy it again. This way, you can keep your space clear and free from unnecessary clutter.

Let’s start with the easy part: trash. Grab a garbage bag and collect everything that you know for sure is trash or that you have no attachment to. Once you see the small progress you’ve made, you’ll gain momentum, and the rest of the decluttering decisions will become easier.

Download the checklist to declutter your home today.

happy organizing, Flavia

Are you drowning in clutter? Don't seem to have enough time to purge your home? Here is a free printable checklist of 101 things you can get rid of today.

2 Comments

  1. I love this! Even when I attempt to clean out rooms, I’m always amazed at how much stuff I decide to keep. Maybe using this checklist will help me say goodbye to the stuff I really don’t need and live more simply. Thanks, Flavia!

    1. Hi, Anna! I’m sure, it happens to me too, hence the list! But this list makes it easier, these are all items that you can discard easily without guilt, and once you start, you gain momentum and it is much easier to discard even more. Liberating! Thanks for stopping by!

Comments are closed.